June 23, 2005 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD—HOUSE 13935

why rescind support for highly re- rifice to be remembered for the good (Mr. WELDON) believe, that mercury spected objective news programs like and honorable actions he was doing in should be taken out of all childhood the NewsHour with Jim Lehrer and Iraq. vaccines and in fact all vaccines. Frontline? His service showed the true American We need to ask ourselves one simple Why cripple excellent radio stations spirit. While the Lapinskis lost their question: What is right? The answer I like WUKY and WEKU in my district, son, they know that he died preserving think is very clear. Get mercury out of jeopardizing shows like Morning Edi- and fighting for democracy. all vaccinations. tion and All Things Considered? Mr. Speaker, I ask all Americans to In reality the answer that is given by Why indeed? I cannot answer such join me in honoring a true American far too many officials in our govern- questions. The very notion of turning hero. ment, health agencies and some Mem- bers of Congress, sorry, we cannot help away from the future of public broad- f casting is preposterous. I am fearful you, and the need to protect the phar- ORDER OF BUSINESS this is an administration effort to ei- maceutical industry is so great, we ther censor public broadcasters or in- Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Mr. Speak- cannot do much about it. timidate them into favorably reporting er, I ask unanimous consent to claim b 1745 the time of the gentleman from Min- on the current administration. I sin- Some in my party keep talking about nesota (Mr. GUTKNECHT). cerely hope not. Objectivity and facts changing the law to protect the drug The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. know nothing of partisan politics. companies against so-called frivolous MCCAUL of Texas). Is there objection to The opponents of public broadcasting lawsuits, and we have to do something the request of the gentleman from Indi- should take note, we will never stop to help these families who had their ana? fighting to preserve public children damaged by the mercury vac- There was no objection. broadcasting’s independence. Public cines. I am against class action law- broadcasting is a true civic treasury, a f suits in general. I am for tort reform, shining example of what good govern- MERCURY AND AUTISM but we have got to do something to ment policy can do to improve our The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a help these families. quality of life and strengthen the We have tried to talk to the pharma- previous order of the House, the gen- American Republic by engaging citi- ceutical industry about protecting tleman from Indiana (Mr. BURTON) is zens in public affairs. them while at the same time changing As Thomas Jefferson once said, recognized for 5 minutes. the Vaccine Injury Compensation Fund Whenever people are well informed, Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Mr. Speak- in a way that will protect these fami- they can be trusted with their own gov- er, I have been down here a lot talking lies and help those who have been dam- ernment. about autism over the years and my aged, but so far we have gotten abso- Maintaining our commitment to pub- committee had many hearings on the lutely nowhere with them; and it is lic broadcasting will help keep the very issue of autism. My grandson became something I think we need to continue people who elect us well informed, and autistic after receiving 9 shots in one to work on. in doing so, help to promote the integ- day, 7 of which contained mercury, in a Just recently, there was an article rity and proper functioning of this very product called thimerosal. And he is that was published in a magazine I nor- body itself. doing better but it has been a very dif- mally do not read. It is called Rolling I applaud the Members of this body ficult time for me and my family. Stone, but this article was brought to who rose to the defense of public broad- I strongly believe that there is a link my attention, and I think everybody in casting earlier today by voting to re- between the mercury that is in the thi- this body ought to read that article. It store funding to a cherished American merosal in the vaccines and children was written by Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., institution. developing neurological disorders such somebody who I normally do not read, f as autism. In fact, according to a re- but I have to tell my colleagues it is a cent study released by collaboration of very well-written article. It goes into HONORING ARMY SPECIALIST U.S. medical researchers from Johns great detail and scientific research STANLEY ‘‘STOSH’’ LAPINSKI Hopkins University, Northeastern Uni- studies on mercury-connected mental (Ms. GINNY BROWN-WAITE of Flor- versity in Boston, and the University disorders caused by the thimerosal in ida asked and was given permission to of Nebraska and Tufts University that the mercury in these vaccinations. address the House for 1 minute and to was published in the Vancouver Sun in I would submit to all my colleagues revise and extend her remarks.) February of last year and was officially they really need to read this article. I Ms. GINNY BROWN-WAITE of Flor- released in the April 2004 edition of the am going to send a Dear Colleague out ida. Mr. Speaker, it is with a heavy scientific journal Molecular Psychi- to all of my colleagues in the House heart that I rise today to express con- atry, ‘‘A recent review of vaccine-re- and the Senate over the next couple of dolences of a grateful Nation. lated adverse events in the U.S. found days. It is a fairly lengthy article, but I rise to honor the life of Army Spe- a significant correlation between shots it goes into how government officials cialist Stanley, also known as Stosh, containing thimerosal,’’ i.e. mercury met with pharmaceutical company of- Lapinski. Specialist Lapinski was a re- ‘‘and autism.’’ ficials and deliberately covered up the cent victim of a terrorist roadside The study further concluded that the connection, deliberately covered up the bomb. use of thimerosal-containing shots connection between the thimerosal in During his last conversation before could account for the rising rates of vaccines and the problems that are he was killed, Sergeant Lapinski told autism since the early 1980s when more being created, neurological problems his parents not to worry about him and thimerosal-containing vaccinations that have been created in these chil- he would be fine. were added to the government-man- dren, including autism. While Stosh did not make it home dated childhood vaccination schedule. All of my colleagues ought to read from Iraq, I am honored to join the Scientific evidence aside, we have this and realize that we have had a col- Lapinski family for his burial at Ar- seen an increase from 1 in 10,000 chil- laboration between health officials in lington National Cemetery next week. dren who are autistic to 1 in 166 since our government and the pharma- A grateful Nation has brought him they started using thimerosal in many, ceutical industry to protect themselves home to the honors and accolades he many vaccines in the early eighties from class action lawsuits at the ex- well deserves. and children started getting more of pense of these young kids and families Nothing I could say today would heal these shots. who have been damaged by neuro- the wounds of the Lapinski family. I am not against vaccinations but I logical disorders, including autism. After speaking to them, however, I can do believe, as many of my colleagues, So I submit to my colleagues who tell you that they want their son’s sac- including the gentleman from Florida may be in their offices or here tonight,

VerDate Sep 11 2014 11:28 Feb 03, 2017 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00091 Fmt 0688 Sfmt 0634 E:\FDSYS\2005BOUNDRECORD\BOOK10\NO_SSN\BR23JN05.DAT BR23JN05 ejoyner on DSK30MW082PROD with CONG-REC-ONLINE 13936 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD—HOUSE June 23, 2005 please read this article. It is extremely Act, many at the meeting were concerned publican from Indiana, oversaw a three-year important. I do not want to hurt the about how the damaging revelations about investigation of thimerosal after his grand- pharmaceutical industry. I would like thimerosal would affect the vaccine indus- son was diagnosed with autism. ‘‘Thimerosal to protect them from class action law- try’s bottom line. used as a preservative in vaccines is directly ‘‘We are in a bad position from the stand- related to the autism epidemic,’’ his House suits; but at the same time, we need to point of defending any lawsuits,’’ said Dr. Government Reform Committee concluded in change that Vaccine Injury Compensa- Robert Brent, a pediatrician at the Alfred I. its final report. ‘‘This epidemic in all prob- tion Fund to take care of these kids duPont Hospital for Children in Delaware. ability may have been prevented or curtailed that have been damaged and help their ‘‘This will be a resource to our very busy had the FDA not been asleep at the switch families. plaintiff attorneys in this country.’’ Dr. Bob regarding a lack of safety data regarding in- DEADLY IMMUNITY Chen, head of vaccine safety for the CDC, ex- jected thimerosal, a known neurotoxin.’’ The (By Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.) pressed relief that’’ given the sensitivity of FDA and other public-health agencies failed the information, we have been able to keep it to act, the committee added, out of ‘‘institu- JUNE 16, 2005.—In June 2000, a group of top out of the hands of, let’s say, less responsible tional malfeasance for self protection’’ and government scientists and health officials hands.’’ Dr. John Clements, vaccines advisor ‘‘misplaced protectionism of the pharma- gathered for a meeting at the isolated Simpsonwood conference center in Norcross, at the World Health Organization, declared ceutical industry.’’ Ga. Convened by the Centers for Disease flatly that the study ‘‘should not have been The story of how government health agen- Control and Prevention, the meeting was done at all’’ and warned that the results cies colluded with Big Pharmacy to hide the held at this Methodist retreat center, nestled ‘‘will be taken by others and will be used in risks of thimerosal from the public is a in wooded farmland next to the Chattahoo- ways beyond the control of this group. The chilling case study of institutional arro- chee River, to ensure complete secrecy. The research results have to be handled.’’ gance, power and greed. I was drawn into the agency had issued no public announcement In fact, the government has proved to be controversy only reluctantly. As an attorney of the session—only private invitations to 52 far more adept at handling the damage than and environmentalist who has spent years attendees. There were high-level officials at protecting children’s health. The CDC working on issues of mercury toxicity, I fre- from the CDC and the Food and Drug Admin- paid the Institute of Medicine to conduct a quently met mothers of autistic children istration, the top vaccine specialist from the new study to whitewash the risks of thimer- who were absolutely convinced that their World Health Organization in Geneva, and osal, ordering researchers to ‘‘rule out’’ the kids had been injured by vaccines. Privately, representatives of every major vaccine man- chemical’s link to autism. It withheld I was skeptical. I doubted that autism could ufacturer, including GlaxoSmithKline, Verstraeten’s findings, even though they had be blamed on a single source, and I certainly Merck, Wyeth and Aventis Pasteur. All of been slated for immediate publication, and understood the government’s need to reas- the scientific data under discussion, CDC of- told other scientists that his original data sure parents that vaccinations are safe; the ficials repeatedly reminded the participants, had been ‘‘lost’’ and could not be replicated. eradication of deadly childhood diseases de- was strictly ‘‘embargoed.’’ There would be no And to thwart the Freedom of Information pends on it. I tended to agree with skeptics making photocopies of documents, no taking Act, it handed its giant database of vaccine like Rep. Henry Waxman, a Democrat from papers with them when they left. records over to a private company, declaring California, who criticized his colleagues on The federal officials and industry rep- it off-limits to researchers. By the time the House Government Reform Committee resentatives had assembled to discuss a dis- Verstraeten finally published his study in for leaping to conclusions about autism and turbing new study that raised alarming ques- 2003, he had gone to work for vaccinations. ‘‘Why should we scare people tions about the safety of a host of common GlaxoSmithKline and reworked his data to about immunization,’’ Waxman pointed out childhood vaccines administered to infants bury the link between thimerosal and au- at one hearing, ‘‘until we know the facts?’’ and young children. According to a CDC epi- tism. It was only after reading the Simpsonwood demiologist named Tom Verstraeten, who Vaccine manufacturers had already begun transcripts, studying the leading scientific had analyzed the agency’s massive database to phase thimerosal out of injections given research and talking with many of the na- containing the medical records of 100,000 to American infants—but they continued to tion’s preeminent authorities on mercury children, a mercury based preservative in the sell off their mercury-based supplies of vac- that I became convinced that the link be- vaccines—thimerosal—appeared to be re- cines until last year. The CDC and FDA gave tween thimerosal and the epidemic of child- sponsible for a dramatic increase in autism them a hand, buying up the tainted vaccines hood neurological disorders is real. Five of and a host of other neurological disorders for export to developing countries and allow- my own children are members of the Thimer- among children. ‘‘I was actually stunned by ing drug companies to continue using the osal Generation—those born between 1989 what I saw,’’ Verstraeten told those assem- preservative in some American vaccines—in- and 2003—who received heavy doses of mer- bled at Simpsonwood, citing the staggering cluding several pediatric flu shots as well as cury from vaccines. ‘‘The elementary grades number of earlier studies that indicate a link tetanus boosters routinely given to 11-year- are overwhelmed with children who have between thimerosal and speech delays, atten- olds. symptoms of neurological or immune-system tion-deficit disorder, hyperactivity and au- The drug companies are also getting help damage,’’ Patti White, a school nurse, told tism. Since 1991, when the CDC and the FDA from powerful lawmakers in Washington. the House Government Reform Committee in had recommended that three additional vac- Senate Majority Leader BILL FRIST, who has 1999. ‘‘Vaccines are supposed to be making us cines laced with the preservative be given to received $873,000 in contributions from the healthier; however, in 25 years of nursing I extremely young infants—in one case, within pharmaceutical industry, has been working have never seen so many damaged, sick kids. hours of birth—the estimated number of to immunize vaccine makers from liability Something very, very wrong is happening to cases of autism had increased fifteen fold, in 4,200 lawsuits that have been filed by the our children.’’ More than 500,000 kids cur- from one in every 2,500 children to one in 166 parents of injured children. On five separate rently suffer from autism, and pediatricians children. occasions, FRIST has tried to seal all of the Even for scientists and doctors accustomed government’s vaccine-related documents— diagnose more than 40,000 new cases every to confronting issues of life and death, the including the Simpsonwood transcripts—and year. The disease was unknown until 1943, findings were frightening. ‘‘You can play shield Eli Lilly, the developer of thimerosal, when it was identified and diagnosed among with this all you want,’’ Dr. Bill Weil, a con- from subpoenas. In 2002, the day after Frist children born in the months after thimerosal sultant for the American Academy of Pediat- quietly slipped a rider known as the ‘‘Eli was first added to baby vaccines in 1931. rics, told the group. The results ‘‘are statis- Lilly Protection Act’’ into a homeland secu- Some skeptics dispute that the rise in au- tically significant.’’ Dr. Richard Johnston, rity bill, the company contributed $10,000 to tism is caused by thimerosal-tainted vac- an immunologist and pediatrician from the his campaign and bought 5,000 copies of his cinations. They argue that the increase is a University of Colorado whose grandson had book on bioterrorism. Congress repealed the result of better diagnosis—a theory that been born early on the morning of the meet- measure in 2003—but earlier this year, Frist seems questionable at best, given that most ing’s first day, was even more alarmed. ‘‘My slipped another provision into an anti-ter- of the new cases of autism are clustered gut feeling?’’ he said. ‘‘Forgive this personal rorism bill that would deny compensation to within a single generation of children. ‘‘If comment—I do not want my grandson to get children suffering from vaccine-related brain the epidemic is truly an artifact of poor di- a thimerosal-containing vaccine until we disorders. ‘‘The lawsuits are of such mag- agnosis,’’ scoffs Dr. Boyd Haley, one of the know better what is going on.’’ nitude that they could put vaccine producers world’s authorities on mercury toxicity, But instead of taking immediate steps to out of business and limit our capacity to ‘‘then where are all the 20-year-old alert the public and rid the vaccine supply of deal with a biological attack by terrorists,’’ autistics?’’ Other researchers point out that thimerosal, the officials and executives at says Andy Olsen, a legislative assistant to Americans are exposed to a greater cumu- Simpsonwood spent most of the next two Frist. lative ‘‘load’’ of mercury than ever before, days discussing how to cover up the dam- Even many conservatives are shocked by from contaminated fish to dental fillings, aging data. According to transcripts ob- the government’s effort to cover up the dan- and suggest that thimerosal in vaccines may tained under the Freedom of Information gers of thimerosal. Rep. Dan Burton, a Re- be only part of a much larger problem. It’s a

VerDate Sep 11 2014 11:28 Feb 03, 2017 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00092 Fmt 0688 Sfmt 0634 E:\FDSYS\2005BOUNDRECORD\BOOK10\NO_SSN\BR23JN05.DAT BR23JN05 ejoyner on DSK30MW082PROD with CONG-REC-ONLINE June 23, 2005 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD—HOUSE 13937 concern that certainly deserves far more at- birth, and 2-month-old infants would be im- require a preservative. Dr. Paul Offit, one of tention than it has received—but it over- munized for haemophilus influenzae B and CDC’s top vaccine advisors, told me, ‘‘I think looks the fact that the mercury concentra- diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis. if we really have an influenza pandemic—and tions in vaccines dwarf other sources of ex- The drug industry knew the additional certainly we will in the next 20 years, be- posure to our children. vaccines posed a danger. The same year that cause we always do—there’s no way on God’s What is most striking is the lengths to the CDC approved the new vaccines, Dr. earth that we immunize 280 million people which many of the leading detectives have Maurice Hilleman, one of the fathers of with single-dose vials. There has to be gone to ignore—and cover up—the evidence Merck’s vaccine programs, warned the com- multidose vials.’’ against thimerosal. From the very begin- pany that 6-month-olds who were adminis- But while public-health officials may have ning, the scientific case against the mercury tered the shots would suffer dangerous expo- been well-intentioned, many of those on the additive has been overwhelming. The pre- sure to mercury. He recommended that thi- CDC advisory committee who backed the ad- servative, which is used to stem fungi and merosal be discontinued, ‘‘especially when ditional vaccines had close ties to the indus- bacterial growth in vaccines, contains used on infants and children,’’ noting that try. Dr. Sam Katz, the committee’s chair, ethylmercury, a potent neurotoxin. Truck- the industry knew of nontoxic alternatives. was a paid consultant for most of the major loads of studies have shown that mercury ‘‘The best way to go,’’ he added, ‘‘is to switch vaccine makers and shares a patent on a tends to accumulate in the brains of pri- to dispensing the actual vaccines without measles vaccine with Merck, which also mates and other animals after they are in- adding preservatives.’’ manufactures the hepatitis B vaccine. Dr. jected with vaccines—and that the devel- For Merck and other drug companies, how- Neal Halsey, another committee member, oping brains of infants are particularly sus- ever, the obstacle was money. Thimerosal worked as a researcher for the vaccine com- ceptible. In 1977, a Russian study found that enables the pharmaceutical industry to panies and received honoraria from Abbott adults exposed to much lower concentrations package vaccines in vials that contain mul- Labs for his research on the hepatitis B vac- of ethylmercury than those given to Amer- tiple doses, which require additional protec- cine. Indeed, in the tight circle of scientists who ican children still suffered brain damage tion because they are more easily contami- work on vaccines, such conflicts of interest years later. Russia banned thimerosal from nated by multiple needle entries. The larger are common. Rep. Burton says that the CDC children’s vaccines 20 years ago, and Den- vials cost half as much to produce as small- ‘‘routinely allows scientists with blatant mark, Austria, Japan, Great Britain and all er, single-dose vials, making it cheaper for conflicts of interest to serve on intellectual the Scandinavian countries have since fol- international agencies to distribute them to advisory committees that make rec- lowed suit. impoverished regions at risk of epidemics. ommendations on new vaccines,’’ even ‘‘You couldn’t even construct a study that Faced with this ‘‘cost consideration,’’ Merck though they have ‘‘interests in the products shows thimerosal is safe,’’ says Haley, who ignored Hilleman’s warnings, and govern- and companies for which they are supposed heads the chemistry department at the Uni- ment officials continued to push more and to be providing unbiased oversight.’’ The versity of Kentucky. ‘‘It’s just too darn more thimerosal-based vaccines for children. House Government Reform Committee dis- toxic. If you inject thimerosal into an ani- Before 1989, American preschoolers received covered that four of the eight CDC advisors mal, its brain will sicken. If you apply it to 11 vaccinations—for polio, diphtheria-tet- who approved guidelines for a rotavirus vac- living tissue, the cells die. If you put it in a anus-pertussis and measles-mumps-rubella. cine ‘‘had financial ties to the pharma- petri dish, the culture dies. Knowing these A decade later, thanks to federal rec- ceutical companies that were developing dif- things, it would be shocking if one could in- ommendations, children were receiving a ferent versions of the vaccine.’’ ject it into an infant without causing dam- total of 22 immunizations by the time they Offit, who shares a patent on one of the age.’’ reached first grade. vaccines, acknowledged to me that he Internal documents reveal that Eli Lilly, As the number of vaccines increased, the ‘‘would make money’’ if his vote eventually which first developed thimerosal, knew from rate of autism among children exploded. leads to a marketable product. But he dis- the start that its product could cause dam- During the 1990s, 40 million children were in- missed my suggestion that a scientist’s di- age—and even death—in both animals and jected with thimerosal-based vaccines, re- rect financial stake in CDC approval might humans. In 1930, the company tested thimer- ceiving unprecedented levels of mercury dur- bias his judgment. ‘‘It provides no conflict osal by administering it to 22 patients with ing a period critical for brain development. for me,’’ he insists. ‘‘I have simply been in- terminal meningitis, all of whom died within Despite the well-documented dangers of thi- formed by the process, not corrupted by it. weeks of being injected—a fact Lilly didn’t merosal, it appears that no one bothered to When I sat around that table, my sole intent bother to report in its study declaring thi- add up the cumulative dose of mercury that was trying to make recommendations that merosal safe. In 1935, researchers at another children would receive from the mandated best benefited the children in this country. vaccine manufacturer, Pittman-Moore, vaccines. ‘‘What took the FDA so long to do It’s offensive to say that physicians and pub- warned Lilly that its claims about the calculations?’’ Peter Patriarca, director lic-health people are in the pocket of indus- thimerosal’s safety ‘‘did not check with of viral products for the agency, asked in an try and thus are making decisions that they ours.’’ Half the dogs Pittman injected with e-mail to the CDC in 1999. ‘‘Why didn’t CDC know are unsafe for children. It’s just not thimerosal-based vaccines became sick, lead- and the advisory bodies do these calculations the way it works.’’ ing researchers there to declare the preserva- when they rapidly expanded the childhood Other vaccine scientists and regulators tive ‘‘unsatisfactory as a serum intended for immunization schedule?’’ gave me similar assurances. Like Offit, they use on dogs.’’ But by that time, the damage was done. In- view themselves as enlightened guardians of In the decades that followed, the evidence fants who received all their vaccines, plus children’s health, proud of their ‘‘partner- against thimerosal continued to mount. Dur- boosters, by the age of six months were being ships’’ with pharmaceutical companies, im- ing the Second World War, when the Depart- injected with a total of 187 micrograms of mune to the seductions of personal profit, ment of Defense used the preservative in vac- ethylmercury—a level 40 percent greater besieged by irrational activists whose anti- cines on soldiers, it required Lilly to label it than the EPA’s limit for daily exposure to vaccine campaigns are endangering chil- ‘‘poison.’’ In 1967, a study in Applied Microbi- methylmercury, a related neurotoxin. Al- dren’s health. They are often resentful of ology found that thimerosal killed mice though the vaccine industry insists that questioning. ‘‘Science,’’ says Offit, ‘‘is best when added to injected vaccines. Four years ethylmercury poses little danger because it left to scientists.’’ later, Lilly’s own studies discerned that thi- breaks down rapidly and is removed by the Still, some government officials were merosal was ‘‘toxic to tissue cells’’ in con- body, several studies—including one pub- alarmed by the apparent conflicts of inter- centrations as low as one part per million— lished in April by the National Institutes of est. In his e-mail to CDC administrators in 100 times weaker than the concentration in a Health—suggest that ethylmercury is actu- 1999, Paul Patriarca of the FDA blasted fed- typical vaccine. Even so, the company con- ally more toxic to developing brains and eral regulators for failing to adequately tinued to promote thimerosal as ‘‘nontoxic’’ stays in the brain longer than scrutinize the danger posed by the added and also incorporated it into topical dis- methylmercury. Under the expanded sched- baby vaccines. ‘‘I’m not sure there will be an infectants. In 1977, 10 babies at a Toronto ule of vaccinations, multiple shots were easy way out of the potential perception hospital died when an antiseptic preserved often administered on a single day: At two that the FDA, CDC and immunization-policy with thimerosal was dabbed onto their um- months, when the infant brain is still at a bodies may have been asleep at the switch bilical cords. critical stage of development, children rou- re: thimerosal until now,’’ Patriarca wrote. In 1982, the FDA proposed a ban on over- tinely received three inoculations that deliv- The close ties between regulatory officials the-counter products that contained thimer- ered 99 times the approved limit of mercury. and the pharmaceutical industry, he added, osal, and in 1991 the agency considered ban- Officials responsible for childhood immuni- ‘‘will also raise questions about various advi- ning it from animal vaccines. But tragically, zations insist that the additional vaccines sory bodies regarding aggressive rec- that same year, the CDC recommended that were necessary to protect infants from dis- ommendations for use’’ of thimerosal in infants be injected with a series of mercury- ease and that thimerosal is still essential in child vaccines. laced vaccines. Newborns would be vac- developing nations, which, they often claim, If federal regulators and government sci- cinated for hepatitis B within 24 hours of cannot afford the single-dose vials that don’t entists failed to grasp the potential risks of

VerDate Sep 11 2014 11:28 Feb 03, 2017 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00093 Fmt 0688 Sfmt 0634 E:\FDSYS\2005BOUNDRECORD\BOOK10\NO_SSN\BR23JN05.DAT BR23JN05 ejoyner on DSK30MW082PROD with CONG-REC-ONLINE 13938 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD—HOUSE June 23, 2005 thimerosal over the years, no one could serves on the House Government Reform Similar bans are now under consideration in claim ignorance after the secret meeting at Committee, attacked the Institute of Medi- 32 other states. Simpsonwood. But rather than conduct more cine, saying it relied on a handful of studies But instead of following suit, the FDA con- studies to test the link to autism and other that were ‘‘fatally flawed’’ by ‘‘poor design’’ tinues to allow manufacturers to include thi- forms of brain damage, the CDC placed poli- and failed to represent ‘‘all the available sci- merosal in scores of over-the-counter medi- tics over science. The agency turned its entific and medical research.’’ CDC officials cations as well as steroids and injected col- database on childhood vaccines—which had are not interested in an honest search for the lagen. Even more alarming, the government been developed largely at taxpayer expense— truth, Weldon told me, because ‘‘an associa- continues to ship vaccines preserved with over to a private agency, America’s Health tion between vaccines and autism would thimerosal to developing countries—some of Insurance Plans, ensuring that it could not force them to admit that their policies irrep- which are now experiencing a sudden explo- be used for additional research. It also in- arably damaged thousands of children. Who sion in autism rates. In China, where the dis- structed the Institute of Medicine, an advi- would want to make that conclusion about ease was virtually unknown prior to the in- sory organization that is part of the Na- themselves?’’ troduction of thimerosal by U.S. drug manu- tional Academy of Sciences, to produce a Under pressure from Congress, parents and facturers in 1999, news reports indicate that study debunking the link between thimer- a few of its own panel members, the Institute there are now more than 1.8 million autistics. Although reliable numbers are osal and brain disorders. The CDC ‘‘wants us of Medicine reluctantly convened a second hard to come by, autistic disorders also ap- to declare, well, that these things are pretty panel to review the findings of the first. In pear to be soaring in India, Argentina, Nica- safe,’’ Dr. Marie McCormick, who chaired the February, the new panel, composed of dif- ragua and other developing countries that IOM’s Immunization Safety Review Com- ferent scientists, criticized the earlier panel are now using thimerosal-laced vaccines. mittee, told her fellow researchers when for its lack of transparency and urged the The World Health Organization continues to they first met in January 2001. ‘‘We are not CDC to make its vaccine database available insist thimerosal is safe, but it promises to ever going to come down that [autism] is a to the public. keep the possibility that it is linked to neu- true side effect’’ of thimerosal exposure. Ac- So far, though, only two scientists have rological disorders ‘‘under review.’’ cording to transcripts of the meeting, the managed to gain access. Dr. Mark Geier, I devoted time to study this issue because committee’s chief staffer, Kathleen Strat- president of the Genetics Center of America, I believe that this is a moral crisis that must ton, predicted that the IOM would conclude and his son, David, spent a year battling to be addressed. If, as the evidence suggests, that the evidence was ‘‘inadequate to accept obtain the medical records from the CDC. our public-health authorities knowingly al- or reject a causal relation’’ between thimer- Since August 2002, when members of Con- lowed the pharmaceutical industry to poison osal and autism. That, she added, was the re- gress pressured the agency to turn over the an entire generation of American children, sult ‘‘Walt wants’’—a reference to Dr. Walter data, the Geiers have completed six studies their actions arguably constitute one of the Orenstein, director of the National Immuni- that demonstrate a powerful correlation be- biggest scandals in the annals of American zation Program for the CDC. tween thimerosal and neurological damage medicine. ‘‘The CDC is guilty of incom- For those who had devoted their lives to in children. One study, which compares the petence and gross negligence,’’ says Mark promoting vaccination, the revelations cumulative dose of mercury received by chil- Blaxill, vice president of Safe Minds, a non- about thimerosal threatened to undermine dren born between 1981 and 1985 with those profit organization concerned about the role everything they had worked for. ‘‘We’ve got born between 1990 and 1996, found a ‘‘very of mercury in medicines. ‘‘The damage a dragon by the tail here,’’ said Dr. Michael significant relationship’’ between autism and caused by vaccine exposure is massive. It’s Kaback, another committee member. ‘‘The vaccines. Another study of educational per- bigger than asbestos, bigger than tobacco, more negative that [our] presentation is, the formance found that kids who received high- bigger than anything you’ve ever seen.’’ It’s less likely people are to use vaccination, im- er doses of thimerosal in vaccines were near- hard to calculate the damage to our coun- munization—and we know what the results ly three times as likely to be diagnosed with try—and to the international efforts to of that will be. We are kind of caught in a autism and more than three times as likely eradicate epidemic diseases—if Third World trap. How we work our way out of the trap, to suffer from speech disorders and mental nations come to believe that America’s most I think is the charge.’’ retardation. Another soon-to-be-published heralded foreign-aid initiative is poisoning Even in public, federal officials made it study shows that autism rates are in decline their children. It’s not difficult to predict clear that their primary goal in studying following the recent elimination of thimer- how this scenario will be interpreted by thimerosal was to dispel doubts about vac- osal from most vaccines. America’s enemies abroad. The scientists cines. ‘‘Four current studies are taking place As the federal government worked to pre- and researchers—many of them sincere, even to rule out the proposed link between autism vent scientists from studying vaccines, oth- idealistic—who are participating in efforts and thimerosal,’’ Dr. Gordon Douglas, then- ers have stepped in to study the link to au- to hide the science on thimerosal claim that director of strategic planning for vaccine re- tism. In April, reporter Dan Olmsted of UPI they are trying to advance the lofty goal of search at the National Institutes of Health, undertook one of the more interesting stud- protecting children in developing nations assured a Princeton University gathering in ies himself. Searching for children who had from disease pandemics. They are badly mis- May 2001. ‘‘In order to undo the harmful ef- not been exposed to mercury in vaccines— guided. Their failure to come clean on thi- fects of research claiming to link the [mea- the kind of population that scientists typi- merosal will come back horribly to haunt sles] vaccine to an elevated risk of autism, cally use as a ‘‘control’’ in experiments— our country and the world’s poorest popu- we need to conduct and publicize additional Olmsted scoured the Amish of Lancaster lations. studies to assure parents of safety.’’ Douglas County, Penn., who refuse to immunize their f formerly served as president of vaccinations infants. Given the national rate of autism, for Merck, where he ignored warnings about Olmsted calculated that there should be 130 ORDER OF BUSINESS thimerosal’s risks. autistics among the Amish. He found only Mr. SCHIFF. Mr. Speaker, I ask In May of last year, the Institute of Medi- four. One had been exposed to high levels of unanimous consent to take my time cine issued its final report. Its conclusion: mercury from a power plant. The other out of order. There is no proven link between autism and three—including one child adopted from out- The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there thimerosal in vaccines. Rather than review- side the Amish community—had received objection to the request of the gen- ing the large body of literature describing their vaccines. tleman from California? the toxicity of thimerosal, the report relied At the state level, many officials have also on four disastrously flawed epidemiological conducted in-depth reviews of thimerosal. There was no objection. studies examining European countries, While the Institute of Medicine was busy f where children received much smaller doses whitewashing the risks, the Iowa Legislature THE CORPORATION FOR PUBLIC of thimerosal than American kids. It also was carefully combing through all of the BROADCASTING—PROVIDING cited a new version of the Verstraeten study, available scientific and biological data. published in the journal Pediatrics, that had ‘‘After three years of review, I became con- INDEPENDENT FAMILY PRO- been reworked to reduce the link between vinced there was sufficient credible research GRAMMING thimerosal and autism. The new study in- to show a link between mercury and the in- The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a cluded children too young to have been diag- creased incidences in autism,’’ says state previous order of the House, the gen- nosed with autism and overlooked others Sen. Ken Veenstra, a Republican who tleman from California (Mr. SCHIFF) is who showed signs of the disease. The IOM de- oversaw the investigation. ‘‘The fact that recognized for 5 minutes. clared the case closed and—in a startling po- Iowa’s 700 percent increase in autism began sition for a scientific body—recommended in the 1990s, right after more and more vac- Mr. SCHIFF. Mr. Speaker, I rise that no further research be conducted. cines were added to the children’s vaccine today to express my strong support for The report may have satisfied the CDC, but schedules, is solid evidence alone.’’ Last the Corporation for Public Broad- it convinced no one. Rep. David Weldon, a year, Iowa became the first state to ban mer- casting and its contributions to our Republican physician from Florida who cury in vaccines, followed by California. shared American experience.

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